


A Thousand Shooting Stars

by Pandemonium471



Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Agoraphobia, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Artemis Plays the Violin, Artemis Senior’s A+ Parenting, Butler is seriously concerned for Artemis, Drama, Everyone is slightly out of character, Family Issues, Gen, I am too honestly, I just really hate Artemis’ Parents, Science Fiction, Space Pirates, Spaceships, Strawberry Cow, animal theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29456505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandemonium471/pseuds/Pandemonium471
Summary: Out in the vast reaches of space, inside the Ugamæ Federation, Artemis Fowl Sr. attempts to strike a deal with the People for fame and money. His son Artemis isn’t pleased with this change in the least. He enlists the help of his twin brothers and the Butler family in order to steal a cow to ruin his father’s reputation. That goes about as well as you’d expect for them.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8
Collections: Artemis Fowl Big Bang 2021





	1. A Trio of Stars

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to [Chars](https://severearbiterninja.tumblr.com/) and whateverpillowpet for helping to beta! It means the world! This is my first fic so I hope y’all enjoy!

Space is not the first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think of crime. How would you steal something in a spacesuit? Who exactly would you need to kill in space? 

However, because the vast expanse of space is hard to govern and even harder to police, criminals of all kinds congregate in space to commit crimes against the planet dwellers. They would commit crimes against each other too, but since there aren’t any set laws in space, technically nothing is a crime as long as the police aren’t notified.

One of the largest crime sectors is located in the Ugamæ Federation, a cluster of very strange planets that seem to attract crime the most. There are 3 stars. The first has only a few planets surrounding it, and is owned by one of the most prevalent human crime families, the Fowls. A beautiful crystal planet called Trembiline is really the only attraction, and it isn’t open to the public. 

The second star holds the remains of a war from long ago, one that ravaged the solar system and left it full of burning ruins. If someone was to look closely, they would see that one planet had been much more heavily colonized than the others, and cities that once stood proud and tall now sit crumbled.

Around the third are a cluster of river planets, bubbling with life, but beginning to be colonized and mined for resources. There is also a group of creatures, often called fairies but they refer to themselves as The People, who live in the solar system, in large green vessels surrounding the planets. The People had once lived on these river planets, but had been chased out by greedy corporations that wanted to collect the resources. 

Over time, most of the vessels had left, giving up on the river planets in search of a better home. Soon, there was only one, a military vessel that built habitats to rescue animals, named Haven. This used to be the biggest vessel of the fleet, but it has since been mostly deserted by the public, the areas replaced with loading docks and such for supplies.

The vessel’s commander is Root, and he along with some military and business fairies are all that is left of the resistance for the river planets. One of his best officers is Captain Short, who has great instincts and a strong moral backbone. She has been with him since the beginning of the resistance, and they have worked side by side to try and keep the colonizers at bay. 

Our story begins with one of their attempts to do just that, using some unusual methods.

~~~

Artemis Fowl Sr. considers himself to be a good businessman. A great one, even, but this time he has really outdone himself. It’s a wonderful plan, a fabulous one, and it is a win win situation for everyone. Sure, it might take a little adjusting for his family, but he is positive it’s nothing they can’t handle.

He has been contacted by a vessel over on the other side of the federation with a proposition. If he helps them push back the colonization of the river planets, he will be rewarded handsomely in gold, and the Ugamæ Federation Police Force will drop all charges against him. 

There is only one catch: he and his family have to do everything legally from this point on.No more crime whatsoever, or Haven will lock him up themselves. Legalization was a change Mr. Fowl had already been working towards empilenting, but he hasn’t found the time to do it until now. This is a perfect opportunity and he immediately agrees to meet with them and discuss a possible alliance. Now, there is only one problem left to deal with — and his name is Artemis Fowl II.

Artemis, the son of Mr. Fowl, is usually found down in his lab working on one project or another. He has a book series that he is about halfway through writing and a radon reactor that he is very close to completing. He also has several new prototypes that have been very popular among clients.

Because Artemis feels very uncomfortable in social situations, he conducts his entire business online. It’s always a bit difficult to sell to new people because he doesn’t do in-person meetings, but this latest client has been sent his way by a longtime buyer that was always very satisfied with his work. 

This potential client is a family-operated bodyguarding and assassination business intrested in testing out his newest products. He has been corresponding with the head of the household, a man who only goes by Butler.


	2. 1,836 Emails

Timmy comes down from the loft above the bedroom, padding down the carpet stairs to where his wife is sitting on the couch. As he sits down next to her, he lets out a long sigh and takes her hand in his.

“We need to talk about Artemis,” Timmy says, looking like he’s been dreading this conversation for a while now.

Somewhere else on the ship, speech recognition software picks up a frequency. 

Artemis Fowl II receives an alert that his name was mentioned and turns on the feed. His parents have been giving him looks recently, the kind of looks you give to someone who particularly concerns and annoys you. The looks are nothing unusual, but they have become less subtle as of late. Artemis turns his gaze to the monitor he set up.

Angeline nods her head in agreement. His father continues. “For the life of me I do not know what I’ve done that has made Artemis so reluctant to follow in my footsteps. I’ve been nothing but generous with the opportunities I’ve given him. He never appreciates the work I do for him.”

Artemis can barely keep himself from rolling his eyes; most unlike him. Maybe he is becoming the useless teenager his parents thought he was. 

“I think it’s because he spends so much time in his lab,” his mother replies, “It’s unnatural for a boy to waste so much time doing nothing instead of focusing on his future.”

Artemis is disappointed but not surprised. It’s typical of them to assume that his reservation about his personal projects meant he was doing nothing at all. He picks up the radon reactor he has been working on and continues to monitor the cameras.

“I think he might be more receptive if he had a nice lady friend to encourage him to get out more. It might help him get over that silly fear of people.” His mother sighs as if her son is simply too much work.

It’s always his mother. As much as his father insists on him forging connections with his business friends, no matter what his son thinks of them, it’s always his mother who makes him feel so incompetent because of his agoraphobia.

It’s easy talking to family members, and meeting people online isn’t as stressful.He has made perfectly acceptable connections using his own methods. The large events his parents throw and force him to attend always ended up with him having a panic attack in the bathroom with his parents making excuses for him through gritted teeth. 

After those parties it took weeks to get back in their good graces, making the next event even harder. Nowadays they have stopped trying to force him to parties; after a certain incident involving eighteen pigs and a gallon of applesauce, it was never spoken of again. When Artemis turns back to the video feed they are still talking about him. 

“If he isn’t competent enough to run a business by the time I want to retire, I’m going to have to wait until the twins are old enough. I don’t feel that he realizes how much stress that puts on me!” his father exclaims. 

“I’m sure you have nothing to worry about, Timmy,” his mother replies, “It’s just one of those phases that teenagers go through. Eventually he’ll stop with this rebellion and settle down with a nice girl, we just have to wait.” 

After that the conversation diverts into something else, and Artemis turns off the camera feed. He stays in his lab late into the night, working on several projects at once to take his mind off the discussion. His parents will never see any of his work. They would probably be disappointed in them, and Artemis can’t bear to see that look on their faces more than he did already.

The next day, after a restless sleep in his lab, he ruminates on some of the topics that had been brought up. The thought of having to marry a woman for the sake of business, or anyone for that matter, puts a nauseating feeling in Artemis’ stomach. Friendships are hard to build and relationships would be even harder. That is if he wanted one at all, which he still isn’t quite sure about. 

If he ever did form a relationship, it certainly wouldn’t be one that was arranged. His father didn’t consider that, however — he had always been obsessed with his work. Always on one business trip or another, carrying out some money making scheme. 

Recently, it seems that his father has been increasingly busy and increasingly secretive about his work. Artemis finds this behavior suspicious, but he figures his parents will leave him be as long as he doesn’t bring it up. 

He is wrong.

~~~

Artemis Fowl Sr. sits the entire family down in Conference Room 3 a fortnight after his son had eavesdropped. He takes a deep sigh before relaying the worst news that Artemis had ever heard: “I can simply not go on like this anymore! No more crime, from any of us! Everything will be done legally in this business from now on.”

The words his father is saying shake the core of his being. It goes against every preconceived notion he had of his father. He had not expected this.

His father seems as though he doesn’t notice Artemis’ internal distress as he continues: “I am making a deal with Haven to help them push back the colonizers that have been ruining their planets. This generous act of charity on my part comes with a catch, that we have to do everything legally. I figured this is a great time for us to start over as a family.”

Artemis stares out the window with a look of deep disappointment on his face. The black emptiness of the expanding universe that greets him seems to be a reflection of the abandonment he feels. 

This isn’t a new diet or a change of habit: this plan to reorganize their entire code of operation will make the entire family legacy look like a joke; a foolish gag they’ve played on all their criminal connections. Connections that will be forever destroyed by this announcement. 

How is he expected to change his entire life plan to satisfy his father’s sudden obsession with morality? He was already expected to take over the empire against his wishes, and now he can’t even do it the way he wants.

On top of that, his father is planning on creating ties to the People, who have refused to do business with humans for as long as anyone could remember. This is entirely against what Artemis thought he stood for, and his father is throwing every single value and principal out the window in search of “the right thing to do.” It makes absolutely no logical sense.

There has to be another reason behind it, an ulterior motive. There must be something that Artemis is missing, but he doesn’t know what. 

Artemis looks back towards his family to see Myles arguing with his father, yelling about the deadly repercussions this will have on the family’s reputation. At only nine years old he is arguing a rather impressive case, but Artemis doesn’t pay much attention to it.

Beckett looks rather uncomfortable with the entire situation, but he seems unable to do much except nod vigorously in agreement with his brother's points and glare at his father.

His mother looks fairly satisfied with this news, though not particularly surprised. Artemis assumes that she had either been told this news beforehand, and agreed with the sentiment, or she was part of the reason for this decision. 

At this point, Myles turns his head towards Artemis looking for him to back up his points, to confirm his conclusion that this was ludicrous. While Artemis agrees, what he really needs is some time and space to think. He will come out in full support of his brother once plans are formulated.

He stands up from the long wooden conference table and strides purposefully out of the room, the firm click of the door speaking more eloquently than any tantrum — or, it would have, if anyone had been paying him attention. His loafers click on the marble hallway as he makes his way down to his bedroom, over in his wing of the ship. 

When Artemis opens the door, he takes a moment to look around and ensure everything is still in its place. His silk navy blue sheets are calling out to him; it feels as though the ship’s gravity has doubled.

He closes the door and sits down in his leather chair, carding a hand through his soft black hair which had been left to grow out for a few months. Artemis feels sick, almost nauseated with dread for what he will have to endure in the coming days.

Through his bedroom door he can hear Myles and Beckett storming towards their wing of the ship, followed by his father’s slow footsteps heading towards the main command deck. He takes a moment to breathe and prepares himself. He predicts that his mother will soon be around to try and ease the tensions between her children and husband. 

Obviously, he needs a plan. He cannot leave his father to corrode the family name beyond recognition. Artemis knows he has little time before his younger brothers come up with their own scheme to try and tamper with their father’s plans, and can only hope that they will stay dormant long enough for him to act.

~~~

The next day Artemis wakes with a dreadful feeling in his stomach. He knows exactly what he needs to do to get his life back to where it needs to be, but it will mean destroying his father’s reputation. The twins are no doubt seething and would soon be coming to him for assistance, but first he needs to make some phone calls.

He enters his office and shuts the hydraulic doors with the push of a button. When he boots up the computer the first thing he sees are his emails. 

All 1,836 of them.

The news had shaken the world of space criminals across the galaxy, instantly creating many enemies for the Fowls. Headlines on the major news sites are raving. Artemis has also received resignation letters from most of the staff.

Artemis responds to the staff first, thanking them for their service and sending them off with quite the hefty severance pay, — from his father’s bank account, of course.  
Next he calls Butler, figuring his services might come in handy for the operation he has in mind.

Obviously his father is too conceited and reckless to understand that his actions have left his family on the brink of social extinction and bereft of an entire staff. He needs to fix his father’s mess, end his deal with the People, and attempt to take over his father’s business. But first, he needs to talk to his brothers.


	3. Bribery Boxes

Artemis is in his office when they arrive, and the twins are indeed seething. They have already started work on their plan to sabotage their father’s plans with the fairies. Myles’ original plan was to wire money into Fowls' account so the fairies would think it was their father. While that would have been a fine plan, it does not take into account the fact that the fairies have something that Beckett desperately wants: a rare and highly prized Strawberry Cow.

This particular Strawberry Cow was rescued from a planet that had been involved in an interplanetary genetic experimentation scheme. When Haven had caught wind of this, they shut it down immediately and began rounding up the animals and settling them into reservations.

Some of the animals had been taken onto fairy’ ships so their vitals and various ailments could be checked over, and Strawberry Cow 485B was one of them. Meaning, of course, that a Strawberry Cow will be on the ship at the same time the meeting is happening. 

The perfect time to strike. 

Myles and Artemis normally don’t get along very well. It may be because their personalities are just too similar to hold discussions without conflict, or it may be that Myles thinks he’s superior to his brother, and it would be quite annoying to have Artemis show him up. 

Whatever the reason, they seem to forget all about their mutual dislike after their father’s announcement. There’s no time for a brotherly rivalry when there’s work to do. They formulate a plan in record time, setting it into action almost immediately by having Beckett grab the supplies they needed under false pretenses.

Myles can’t help suspecting Artemis isn’t as confident in their plan as he acts. He seems slightly withdrawn, and often an expression of wistfulness will come over his face and he’ll go silent for a moment before continuing. This could be his anxiety over the plan, or working with a large group of people.

But in the end the plan is completed, and Myles figures if Artemis is worried about something, he would find out when he needed to. He did keep an eye on his brother though, just to be sure.

~~~

The day has arrived. Their father is supervising the employees who are loading the ship — they are bringing supplies to the People to help ease tensions ahead of negotiations. These employees are all new, of course; all the others have resigned, and the only ones Fowl Sr. can find on such short notice aren’t very reputable.

Butler has agreed to help with the plan, recruiting his sister to help as well. He’s currently disguised as one of the crewmembers on the cargo ship Artemis Fowl Sr. rented yesterday.

Butler sneaks around the corner and picks up two wooden crates, clearly marked with the Fowl signet. They had not been noticed among the many other boxes. The twins curi inside the boxes, trying their hardest to be silent.

After the twins are securely placed inside the ship, more boxes are loaded in. The cargo door slams shut with a metallic clang, submerging the boys in palpable darkness. The ship’s engines fire up and rattle the cargo area, making Beckett’s teeth chatter.

~~~

Artemis Fowl Sr. looks out of the spacecraft’s window to observe the fairies’ craftsmanship. It seems to be a large metal vessel with green lighting that orbits one of the unnamed river planets in the Ugamæ federation. The cargo ship moves to the underside of the circular vessel in order to access one of the several docking ports.

Pulling into Dock 7, Artemis notices another ship full of what seems to be farm animal supplies. His ship finally lands and the workers start getting out of the back to unload. 

He waits until someone comes around to open the door and steps out with a flick of his suit jacket and a confident gait in his walk. He takes long strides through the sliding doors of the docking bay and makes his way to the meeting room. 

Behind him, the employees are struggling with heavy boxes full of bribery to help bring Fowl onto the fairy’s team. Butler is one of the last to exit the cargo ship, and he makes sure to do so with a look of importance. He heads towards the rear of the ship and stacks the twins on top of each other.

He lifts up the boxes, careful not to shift around too much. Butler looks around to find the guard who seems the least confident in themselves. He steps forward to face a wiry looking elf who looks so nervous his legs are shaking. He stares up at Butler’s glaring bald head and gulps. 

Butler takes one step closer so he’s looking directly down on the frightened employee and says in a quiet but stern tone, “Excuse me, I need get passed here to bring stuff for the animals; a gift from Mr. Fowl.”

The guard seems to weigh the risks of telling this man that it isn’t allowed, before deciding that his spinal integrity is more important.

Butler walks down a lengthy hallway, scanning the various cargo bays for the one that holds the animal delivery. He finds the bulky cargo ship with the logo he had seen coming in. Other workers are scrambling about to get supplies to the rescue animals, and they barely notice Butler come in and set the boxes down in their haste.

He leaves directly after, before anyone notices he was there. In the boxes, Myles and Beckett are waiting to receive the signal to put their plan into action. If all has gone well, Artemis would have access to the cameras and would currently be watching their every move. Once they were in the rescue area, he would give them the signal.

Soon enough, Myles and Beckett are picked up by an unsuspecting attendant, and they make their way into the rescue animal area. They can smell the lush grass and the strawberry scent of Cow 486B. Now they only need to wait for everyone to leave. 

~~~ 

Artemis Fowl Sr. is just in the middle of explaining that his children wouldn’t be a hindrance to his plan when, in some interesting twist of irony, his eldest son calls him. Fowl Sr. sighs and steps out into the hallway before turning his back to the meeting room and answering the call with a sharp, “What is it, Artemis? This had better be important!”. 

Artemis sounds grave when he answers, “Father, you need to return home immediately. It’s Mother, something is horribly wrong.” 

This is serious. Fowl Sr. practically storms into the meeting room, hurriedly packs his things, and says he’ll be on his way. He leaves the meeting room without another word to the fairies, who look very confused. 

He hurries all his workers back onto the ship and takes his seat. He knows Angeline hasn’t been doing well as of late, but it’s still very concerning to get a call from his son nevertheless. 

If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed Juliet peering out at him from one loading dock over.


	4. Hypothetically

Beckett has almost finished chiseling an ocean landscape on the inside of his box when they get the signal. It’s Artemis, his voice echoing through their earpieces that the coast was clear. It’s his time to shine.

Beckett attempts to take the top of his box off with his tiny chisel, but unfortunately the twins have reached the first snag in the plan. 

Myles is on top of him.

Beckett sighs dramatically and pushes a button on his earpiece to talk to the rest of the group. “So hypothetically…. What if Myles’ box is on top of mine and Myles isn’t strong enough to open his box because he’s allergic to exercise? Asking for a friend.” 

Beckett can sense that Artemis rolls his eyes before he says, “Well, hypothetically, Myles would need to leverage his body weight in order to push the box onto the floor so you can open your box.”

“What if, hypothetically, Myles didn’t want to break his bones?” interjects Myles.

Butler doesn’t chime in with a hypothetical, because he really doesn’t care about Myles or his bones as long as the boss is happy and he gets paid.

Seconds later they hear a thump as Myles pushes his box over onto the grass, followed by, “You had better be ecstatic that I managed not to hurt myself and sue you for everything you’re worth, Artemis.”

Artemis doesn’t dignify that with a response, and instead pushes the button to end the call. 

Beckett pops open the top of his box and scrambles out to help Myles. He had pushed himself onto the floor with his back, maximizing the surface area that hit the floor so he wouldn’t be injured. Beckett is glad he managed to teach his brother one thing about self defense at least.

Beckett pulls Myles by his arms out of the wooden box, picks the box back up, and they both look around at the scene before them: a lab with sections for animals of all sizes and several different tools scattered around. Myles grabs the chip retractor they’ll need for their plan and then says, “We need to be very efficient with this operation. The veterinarians will be back from their lunch breaks soon.”

They look out past the labs into the open field, there is a line of trees surrounding the field and it almost looks natural. The brothers traipsed through the grass, and Myles only manages to fall in one pothole before they reach the legendary Strawberry Cow. Beckett immediately runs up to her and asks for her name, to which the cow apparently responds Martha. 

“Hi Martha! I’m Beckett! And this is…..” Beckett says, gesturing to Myles and urging him in the direction of Martha. 

Myles sighs, rubs his eyes, and says, “Hello Martha, my name is Myles and I do not want to be here at this point in time.” 

Beckett turns back around, seemingly satisfied, and proceeds to tell Martha that they have to take out her tracker. Martha seems to be mostly unconcerned with this, and agrees to go with Beckett almost instantly after he says she will be fed very high quality food.

Myles finds where the tracker is located and presses the chip removal gun to Martha’s neck. Beckett tells Martha that it should be painless and Myles proceeds to take out the tracker with the only reaction being a slightly disgruntled moo. 

Once Myles has the tracking chip in the device, Beckett starts searching around for an animal that won’t mind having two chips. Beckett eventually finds a chicken named Fiona who wants to go on an adventure. She will do perfectly.

Beckett picks up Fiona and tells her to hold very still. Myles quickly implants the chip and Fiona then goes straight into Beckett's old box with some food and bedding.

Myles carefully picks up the chicken box and contacts Butler to check on the guard situation; Butler responds by knocking the last one out and stuffing her in a closet with about 10 others. “All clear,” he says flatly, and motions for Juliet to back into the loading dock.

Artemis chimes in to say they have about 15 minutes left just as Beckett and Myles are heading out the door of the lab and into the hallway cleared of guards.

Following Artemis’ directions, the twins make their way sneakily down the hallway and back into the loading docks. Juliet is there with a ship and takes her new cruiser from Artemis out before Beckett loads in Martha. 

Then Juliet steps in to help Myles with the chicken box since he’s very obviously struggling. They take it down to where Fowl Senior’s ship is and place it in the corner where it won’t be noticed.

Butler gets in the pilot’s seat as Beckett shuts the door to the cruiser dock that currently holds Martha. Myles returns and they both get ready to take off, smug with a successful mission under their belts. Butler nods to his sister as they pull out of the loading dock; the rest is up to her.

Once the ship is out of the loading dock, Juliet takes a bomb out from the bottom of her cruiser. She sets it on a five minute timer and sees Fowl Sr. leave in a rush. Whatever Artemis told him must’ve been really worrying.

Juliet leaves right after the cargo ship so she won’t be noticed and starts a circle around the ship, waiting for the call she knows will come soon.

There it is. Right on time.

~~~

Foaly is pretty sure that something is wrong with the security system, even if no one else seems to think so. Root has been watching the cameras and hasn’t noticed anything, but Foaly is almost certain something was afoot, something Fowl. 

After digging deep in the code he finds it, an IP address log-in from Artemis Fowl Sr. on his portable computer. Now it all makes sense. Root takes one look at the information, and after being told what it says, calls security to escort Artemis Fowl Sr. off the premises.

That is when he gets alerts that guards have been stuffed in closets by the dozen and half his guard force is out of commission. Root’s face is beet red, and he looks about two seconds away from exploding. 

This is not good.

Foaly gets the cameras back online after quite a bit of struggle and looks to see that Fowl Senior was gone, and standing in his wake were several very confused employees. Not only that, but a Strawberry Cow and a rescue chicken are missing and the tracking chips indicate that they were both on Fowl’s ship. They put everything on lockdown immediately and are about to start preparing a retaliation when a bomb goes off.

D’Arvit!

This is obviously a planned attack by Artemis Fowl Sr. They need all their resources on this ASAP so nothing else is ruined. Root calls in Holly, his officer with the best arrest record, but he needs someone else. An ally perhaps, one good at tracking and at fighting, in case things get sticky.

By a sheer stroke of luck, Juliet Butler, space hunter extraordinaire, is close by and eager to assist in the capture of Fowl. Holly comes into the office already dressed for a space chase and Juliet comes soon after in her own two-person cruiser. It’s honestly higher quality than the standard issue police ones they have, even though Foaly would never admit it.

Root quickly briefs them on the situation, and they both seem fairly prepared -- and, one could almost say, excited -- to be on this mission. As soon as Root dismisses them Juliet hops into the driver’s side of the cruiser and Holly gets in beside her.

They shut the doors and Juliet turns to Holly. “Ready to go?” she asks. Juliet adjusts the radio to some light music and Holly responds, “As I'll ever be”.

Flying out into the vast expanse of space, Juliet follows the tracker at nearly top speed. She knows they have to catch Fowl before he gets back to the Fowl Star. While they’re flying through a solar system, Holly sees the cargo ship in the distance and turns on the lights to attempt to notify the ship. 

The radio transmission they send goes through, and Juliet shouts into the comms for the pilot to pull over onto the dirt planet Atunata. The cargo ship enters the atmosphere without question. Holly thinks this is suspicious, but Juliet doesn’t seem concerned so she ignores it.

They land on the rocky, deep brown surface next to the cargo ship, and Holly gets out of the cruiser in order to tap on the window of Fowl’s ship. He gets out, looking confused, but Holly can tell that it’s a ploy to hide his crime. She asks if she can check in the back for contraband and he agrees, looking slightly nervous and constantly checking his phone.

Thinking she’s about to catch him in the act, Holly opens up the back of the cargo hold only to be surprised when she finds a noticeable lack of cow. She turns, confused and slightly angrily looking at Fowl Senior for answers. He responds with a polite and slightly impatient smile, as though confused as to why she’s upset.

That’s when Juliet pulls her aside and tells her that they must have transferred the cow onto another ship and messed with the trackers somehow. Then she suggests they look to see if they can find the chicken. 

Holly and Juliet search the whole cargo hold, and Juliet seems to find the box with the chicken rather quickly. The crew members seem a bit sad to see the chicken go, but allow Juliet to take her nonetheless.

“Ah ha!” Juliet says, holding the box up triumphantly, “You do have a stolen animal on you after all! Well, we need to take you into custody in order to investigate. Holly, if you wouldn’t mind cuffing him?”

“Certainly,” Holly responds, gesturing for the bewildered businessman to turn around so she can cuff him. Holly thinks he’s stunned completely to silence because he was caught, and she’s sure that Juliet is smiling at a job accomplished as well.

Juliet sends a text to the younger Artemis confirming that his father was in their custody and would be in the holding cells soon. A job well done indeed.


	5. Familial Duties

You can cut the tension in Juliet’s cruiser with a knife. She is driving steadily and as quickly as she can. All they need to do is get back to the station and then she can take her money from the People, then from Artemis, and then be done with it. 

Meanwhile, Holly is focused on not ripping Mr. Fowl’s head off. He’s obviously very annoyed and has voiced his concerns rather loudly. Every other minute he attempts to wager with Holly to let him off the hook or bribe her in some way, and Holly is not happy about it.

Juliet taps her hand on the left joystick of the console, impatiently checking the navigation screen to see how much farther they have to go. Holly turns the music up to try and drown out the sound of Fowl’s chatter, but it just makes him talk louder. At this point, she just sits back and tries to relax for even a minute among the noise.

After what seems like an eternity, they arrive back at headquarters, where Artemis Fowl Sr. is promptly thrown in a shock plasma holding cell while the detective team investigates what transpired. The veterinarians take the frustrated-looking chicken back to the rescue area, with much struggle from the chicken.

Holly and Juliet stand behind the door to the holding cells and listen as Root screams at Fowl. After about 20 minutes, Root comes out seething and motions for them to follow as he walks back to his office. Falling into step behind him, Holly asks if he got anything useful, to which Root glares and responds, “He’s a Fowl.What do you think?”

When Root walks into his office he sags down in his plush office chair and enters the password on his laptop, checking if Foaly has sent him any updates on the situation. 

He hands Holly the key to the cell, telling her and Juliet to go guard Fowl while Root sends a message to the son. Holly and Juliet share a strange look before heading off. 

As if Root’s day couldn’t get any worse, as soon as he sends an email to that Fowl human’s son, Holly and Juliet come right back in to inform him that Fowl Sr. had escaped before they had gotten back to the cell.  
~~~

When Butler gets back to the Fowl Star things move fast. The twins and Martha have been dropped off at the crystal planet Trembiline, where Martha is grazing happily in her grass dome.

Angeline, who is very confused as to what’s going on, is only told briefly by Butler that Artemis Fowl Sr. is in jail and she and the twins need to go into hiding in an undisclosed location. She has many questions about this, none of which are answered in the flurry of preparations. 

Angeline is sceptical of the stranger who had told her the news, and refuses to go anywhere until a very tired looking Artemis comes out of his office. “Mother, please, I need to rescue my father and we don’t have a lot of time before the police start investigating us. This is Butler. He is trustworthy.Go with him and everything will be explained soon.”

Angeline looks wearily at Butler before following him onto the ship, carefully seating herself on the passenger's seat, noticing that it seems to smell, strangely, of strawberries. 

Beckett and Myles are waiting on the landing pad when Angeline arrives, and as soon as she steps out she is ushered down the ladder into the bunker. This takes several minutes because Myles is about as good with ladders as his older brother. 

After making their way more or less safely into the bunker, Angeline sits down on one of the twin beds in the corner and says in a rather exasperated tone, “Well? Is anyone going to explain to me what exactly is going on here?”

~~~

To Artemis it seems like he has been at his computer for days, and he’s had a headache for just as long. Of course he has his doubts, his concerns, but his plan is the best option for everyone. Even if he ends up taking over the Fowl Star with no one else around. 

As much as an empty spaceship with only robots to help maintain it fills him with anxiety; he can’t just leave and have his parents force this life on the twins. 

Time seems to be moving very quickly and dragging its feet at the same time. Every second he spends trying to move forward with his plan is another moment his parents are confused and getting more and more desperate for answers.

He has also received a very angry email from Root, who is demanding to know where the Cow is or he will ‘make sure his father never sees the light of day again.’

Just when he starts to think about his parents, his phone rings. The tone ricochets off the walls of the deadly quiet office and intensifies Artemis’ persistent headache. It’s from his mother, who is most likely not very happy with him.

“Artemis Fowl, I cannot believe you!” Angeline shouts into the phone. This is an expected outcome, one he has been planning on, but the words still sting. 

“Mother-” 

“Don’t you dare! Your father was only trying to do what was best for us and you had him arrested and ruined his plans! This is so selfish of you. Just because this business isn’t what you want, doesn’t mean you can abandon your duties to the fam--” 

Artemis hangs up the phone. He is done with this. 

Butler comes in at exactly the wrong time. It isn’t really his fault, he buzzed the office doorbell and the room is soundproof. He couldn’t have known. Nevertheless, the state Artemis is in ensures that any attempts at conversation will go miserably. 

Artemis is sitting at his desk with his head resting on his hand, and he looks so distraught that Butler fears he’ll start crying. Artemis turns and glares at him. “Is there a reason for your visit?” he says in a harsh tone. 

“It’s time to rescue your father, sir.” Butler knows that’s the wrong answer as soon as it comes out of his mouth, because based on the way Artemis is looking at him, the plans have obviously changed. 

Artemis storms past Butler, and into his room. He needs to think, reset his priorities, and he can’t do that in this stuffy ship that seems to cast a shadow of responsibility on all of his actions. He stops in the corner of his room, and what’s hidden behind curtains is a violin and an escape pod.

To think about this situation fully, he’ll have to go somewhere he hasn’t been in a very long time. He pops open the hatch and climbs in, fitting his violin behind the pilot’s seat. He places his hands on the controls that he knows instinctively, and launches himself into space with the push of a button.

The city is exactly as he remembered, smoke filling the sky and embers embedded with rage for a war long since forgotten. The smoke won’t fill his lungs with ash though, for the flames are only an illusion generated by the never-ending memory of a war that once was.

Artemis found this planet long ago, traveling there only with his violin after disappointing his father. He couldn’t bear to face him at the dinner table, so he explored the solar system next to theirs instead. It’s lucky that he had landed on this planet, or he would’ve never discovered the city. The memory flames cannot be seen outside of the atmosphere.

Artemis lands his pod on top of his favorite museum in the city, and takes out his violin. For the first time in months he feels at peace.


	6. Rendezvous in the Burning City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some wonderful art from the lovely [Arty](https://artyclues55.tumblr.com/) !
> 
> [Violinist Artemis!](https://imgur.com/a/i4gKTja)

Butler walks down the hallway after Artemis, slowly, not wanting him to think he’s chasing after him. He isn’t exactly sure what happened to make Artemis so upset, but whatever it is needs to be fixed quickly. They are running on borrowed time. 

When he reaches the door that leads to Artemis’ room, he knocks softly a few times. There’s no response. He tries again, still nothing. “Artemis? Are you in there?” he calls out. Again, he is met with silence. He pushes a button on the side and the doors open into an empty room. 

He is gone.

He has no idea where Artemis might be, and he needs to find him before the commander sends his father to an actual prison. He gets in a glider ship -- fast and silent, they’re great for a search party. As he heads out to scout the area, he spots a spaceship docking on the Fowl Star. That can’t be good.

Butler immediately calls Juliet. “Do you have any info on Fowl Senior?” he says as soon as she picks up. “Well,” she responds, “You’ll have plenty of time before he gets sent to jail, because he isn’t here!” 

Well that explains who Butler saw docking.

“I think I just saw him dock at the Fowl Star. Try to stall for time while I find the boss.” 

“What do you mean, ‘find the boss?’ Where is he!” Juliet doesn’t like this news. Two Fowls, doing God knows what, interfering with their own plans...

“If I knew I wouldn’t be looking for him. Once I find him I can see what he wants to do about his father, I’ll call you back after.”

“You better find him fast, I can’t stall them for long.” Juliet hangs up the phone and the line goes silent. 

Butler turns on his radio. Sometimes, if you are searching for someone, radio signals that spread across different planets act as a sort of tracking device. He flips through the channels hearing only static and ambient background noise, when suddenly one of the channels picks up the faint sound of a violin. Bingo!

Butler follows the sound to an inconspicuous-looking planet. There seems to be nothing interesting or special about it from the outside, and Butler wonders if he has the right place. 

As he descends into the atmosphere, he passes through what felt like a layer of gel and suddenly sees why this planet was special. 

It’s completely on fire. He lands on top of the building that looks the most stable, and opens the door of the spacecraft expecting to be hit with a wave of smoke. There’s nothing though; the air smells perfectly clean.

The skies fill the atmosphere with smoke, and through the ashy bog it would be almost too dark to see if it wasn’t for all the fire. Butler jumps across the rooftops, following the somber melody of the violin, which he can now hear without the radio.

When he reaches the rooftop across from the museum, he can hear the music from the violin crescendo. The music and the fire coming from below him makes the young man look rather villainous and foreboding. 

Artemis turns to him and stops his playing rather abruptly. Butler stares into his icy blue eyes and raises his voice so he can be heard over the crackling fires. “I mean no disrespect, sir, but this seems like a weird choice for a getaway.” 

Artemis tilts his head ever so slightly but his face remains still and expressionless. “Oh,” he says, as if this were a normal occurrence, “I thought this location complemented our situation quite well.”

He sighs and places his violin back into the case, making sure that each component goes back in its proper place. He runs his finger along the soft velvet of the interior before turning to Butler. He walks over to the large man and sits down on the ledge of the tall building, the shadows from the fire cascading across his face.

When Artemis sits down next to him, Butler finds that he doesn’t know what to say. Artemis most likely doesn’t know about his father’s escape, but considering the last time Butler mentioned him to Artemis... he isn’t sure if that’s what he wants to start with.

Artemis ends up being the one to speak first. “I apologize for running off; that was very unprofessional of me and it has no doubt hindered our plans.” 

Butler doesn’t have a good response to this, but he needs to say something, so what ends up coming out is, “-Uh, that’s alright.

“Sir, I know it’s not my place to intrude, but what happened between you and your father?” Artemis looks out at the fire and remains silent. Butler takes that to mean he doesn't want to talk. “I apologize, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Artemis turns to him, a rather misty look in his eyes, “No, it’s quite alright. I should have made you aware of the situation earlier. My father has wanted me to take over the family business for quite a while, when I made it clear that was not what I wanted he began to consider me a nuisance.

“I suppose being his heir is the only purpose I’ll ever have in his eyes, and I was a fool for assuming he loved me. But I would’ve preferred animosity and anger to silent judgment and passive aggression.

“My mother might still have hope that I’ll come around, be the son that they wanted me to be. Maybe it would be easier to just cram myself into the mold that my family has been filling for centuries, but it’s difficult to convince my mind to resign itself to a life of submission and passive dissatisfaction.

“I only hope by going along with what they want for me, my brothers will be free to live their own lives the way they’d prefer.” Butler moves carefully, not wanting to startle Artemis, and he puts his arm around the boy, pulling him closer and slightly wrinkling his jacket.

Butler breathes out. “It isn’t foolish to expect love from your parents--it is foolish of parents to not provide love. You aren’t something to be molded, you’re your own person, and you should make decisions based around what’s best for you and not just other people. You’re a very smart young man; I’m sure you can find a way to break the mold your parents are trying to force you into.”

Butler looks over to see tears silently streaming down Artemis’ pale cheeks, catching the light of the fire. He isn’t sure if he said the right thing, so he just sits with Artemis in silence for a long while.

At this point, he isn’t really sure if this is a job anymore. Sure, he might be paid, but for some reason that doesn’t feel like the point. He originally took on this job in exchange for a hefty sum of money and the new weapons Artemis had recently produced.

He and his sister had been hired to help steal a cow, arrest Fowl Sr. and monitor him until Artemis and Butler could rescue him. Those plans have obviously changed now that Fowl Sr. was back at the Fowl Star and Artemis was here.

This feels like a connection he’s making. Something inside him decides at that moment that he needs to protect this young man, because it seems like no one else has.

Artemis interrupts his thoughts by wiping his eyes and clearing his throat. “Are there any updates to the situation?” Butler looks slightly unsure of whether he should say anything, but he takes a moment and answers, “Well, it appears your father has escaped from Haven and flown back to the Fowl Star. Juliet said she would try and stall for as long as she could.”

Artemis looks stunned. He opens his mouth several times but no words come out. His face pulls into a concerned grimace and he looks up at the stars for a while, before his face slowly relaxes. He starts grinning, a sort of twinkle in his eye appears that wasn’t there before. 

“I believe we need to return home, I have a plan.”

~~~

When Artemis gets back he makes a call to the twins and confirms some things. Apparently his mother had gone back to the Fowl Star as well, to be with her husband until the children ‘stopped this foolish charade’. After he clears everything up there he goes straight to his lab. Soon he’ll collect all of his things, but for now he needs to make a call to Commander Root. 

Root picks up immediately, and the first thing Artemis hears on the line is, “WHERE IS YOUR FATHER, YOU INSOLENT BRAT? I WILL CALL THE POLICE IMMEDIATELY IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WITH MY COMMANDS!” 

Artemis smirks, “Well, I would be happy to point you in the direction of my father, as long as you give me a day or so to pack. I can promise you he will be in the location I specify whenever the police come to pick him up. Unfortunately you will not be getting the cow back as I have no idea where she is.”

This is technically true: he does not know the exact location of the cow on Trembiline. 

“Listen here! It’s not just about the animal. Your father severely damaged my ship, and about half my team just woke up with concussions! Unless you’re planning to pay for it, I suggest you put me on the line with your father, kid.”

If there’s one thing Artemis hates, it’s being called a kid. But he shakes it off. This negotiation wouldn’t go well if he lost his temper. “I’ll happily give you the money for the damages, Commander; it comes out of my father’s account either way. If that’s all, I’ll be going now to prepare for my departure.” 

Root seems dumbfounded. He most likely didn’t consider that Artemis was just going to comply. He ponders this for a minute and then responds, “Here’s the deal. Your father’s agreement with us fell through for obvious reasons, but you give us the money for damage control and see if you can help us out with the colonizers, and I’ll consider everything even. No need for your father to go to jail.”

“Commander Root, you misunderstand me.” Artemis replies, “My father going to jail is a benefit for me. I’ll see if my younger brothers are willing to help you with your river planets, as long as you allow us to continue our more… illegal endeavors.”

Root breathes a heavy sigh, “I don’t like working with people on the wrong side of the law, but in this case I don’t think I have much of a choice. You’ve got yourself a deal, Fowl.”

Artemis quickly pulls up his father’s account, drawing out the money necessary, and taking a bit extra for their troubles. Once he sends the money over, he says one last thing to Root. “The money should be in your account now, Commander. I look forward to working with you. Oh, and call me Artemis -- Fowl is my father.” And with that he hangs up the phone.

Artemis goes to his room and begins packing, while the twins are controlling a robot to pack their things. Everything is loaded into a spare cargo ship, and they are all very careful to avoid either of their parents. 

It is relatively easy to pack up the lab, he makes sure to wipe everything after transferring it directly to the hangar on Trembiline. Once everything is finished, he has a light dinner and goes to sleep. After all, tomorrow will be very eventful.

~~~

In the morning, Artemis marches down to his father’s room, making sure to keep his face still even if there is a pool of dread building in his stomach. He enters the room without knocking and stands in front of his father, watching as he looks up from his frantic search for something with an annoyed gaze.

“What do you want?” his father demands, curt as always. He places his hands on his hips and taps his foot impatiently.

“I will not be taking over your company. My younger brothers will not be taking over your company. We will be moving somewhere else, and the moment you try to follow us there will be a restraining order waiting for you. Not that you’ll be moving much.”

His father just huffs. “Don’t be so dramatic, Artemis. We really shouldn’t have let you take those theater courses. Honestly, why are you always so uptight? Everything is going to go according to plan whether your royal highness approves or not. I’ve already made calls to arrange everything, so just sit tight and call the twins back from wherever the hell you sent them. Don’t annoy me more than you already have.”

Artemis stands his ground. He isn’t going to fall back and take this anymore. He is done. “Butler, if you wouldn’t mind locking down the Fowl Star and draining my father’s accounts, we’ll be leaving soon.”

His father stutters as if he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his son’s mouth. “Artemis it--I--don’t be ridiculous, I’m in full control of the ship! And draining my accounts, cease with this foolishness!”

Artemis smiles and leaves the room, knowing that behind him his father is attempting to figure out what he had done. What he said is true, he had locked down the ship and drained their accounts. Artemis and Angeline Fowl will not be able to leave the Fowl Star until the police arrive to take his father to jail.

Artemis takes his escape pod with his violin out onto the cargo ship that was waiting in space. Butler and all their supplies are loaded and once he leaves the ship locks itself up tight.

Artemis and Butler head over to Trembiline, Artemis’ and the twins’ belongings all packed into a cargo ship, to put in the hangar until he builds a house. Even though the situation is still delicate, he feels more free than he had in a long time. 

He has plans for the construction of a new spacecraft as well, one with which he could hopefully explore more than just the Ugamæ Federation. It would need a crew to run it, but he has a feeling he could find a few willing recruits.

The cargo ship lands with a hiss and the twins come out to help unpack. Artemis gets out and breathes in the Trembiline air. For now, at least, this is his new home. 

Juliet arrives a few hours after with Holly and Commander Root in tow, coming to meet the twins they would be working with to try and save their planets. Artemis moves to go back inside the hangar to get work done, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people and open space.

It’s a quiet afternoon spent reveling in the peace. The last few days had been so hectic, and it’s nice to have the normalcy of unpacking. Commander Root and Holly set up a temporary hut while they are here, making Juliet explain the full story of what happened.

Butler makes a fire to cook some food over, even though they have two working kitchens. Everyone says a quiet goodnight, and for now they can only wait until morning.

~~~

In the morning, the police drive through space with quite a few vehicles. More than necessary for one arrest, surely. An anxious energy fills the camp as they watch through the telescope as space tankers surround the Fowl Star.

Beckett very softly asks, “What’s happening?”, seemingly not wanting to interrupt. Root calls everyone from the police force that he can get a hold of, telling them he only requested an arrest. When he gets an answer his face goes pale, and everyone turns to him for an answer to what is happening.

Root only has time to turn to Artemis and the twins to whisper, “I’m sorry.” before a white light blinds through the telescope.

The rumble comes after, loud enough to shake all of the crystals on Trembiline.

And then everything is silent. 

Everyone watches in horror as the Fowl Star combusts before their eyes, bursting into a thousand shooting stars that was once the home of Artemis, Myles, and Beckett Fowl.

A thousand shooting stars that were once the parents of Artemis, Myles, and Beckett Fowl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading my story! Kudos and comments are always appreciated and if you have any suggestions for what you want to see next, I’ll be happy to oblige! Thanks again to everyone who helped out with this, I’m so thankful!


End file.
